Classified Ads link

...is fixed. Don't know what suddenly changed on the Miata Club Canada forum site, but the link (to the right) directly into the Classified Ad section was broken. Jim fixed it last night and it's working again.

Don't forget that there's a whole bigger world on the MCC forum apart from the Classified Ads and WRMC sections...just a click away on the top-left "Miata Club Canada" text from either page will get back to the larger forum...or just click on the header of this post to be brought there directly.

Meeting Reminder - November 18

The last club meeting for 2010 is Thursday, November 18 at 7pm in the second floor boardroom at Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

See you there!

Call for 2010 Event Pictures

Click the title text of this post and you'll be taken to the WRMC photo diary page in our section on the Miata Club Canada forum.

Some new galleries have been added for 2010 events...but more photos were taken than just by Martin and I...so if you've got some lying around, post 'em online and e-mail either of us with the address, and we'll add them to the posting.

Show what a fantastic year we had despite the rainy summer.

Welcome to new members:

Daryl B. of Edmonton - supercharged 1990 Classic Red;
Bob & Sue T. of Edmonton - 2006 Sunlight Silver Metallic;
Tim & Mary S. of Edmonton - 1990 Mariner Blue, and;
David & Brenda O. of Edmonton - 2006 Brilliant Black.

Furthermore, welcome back to former members:
Zack & Adrienne S. of Edmonton - 2004 Velocity Red Mica Mazdaspeed.

Event Reminder - Fall "Burn Some Wood" Cookout - October 23

Our last event for the 2010 summer season is the cookout, on Saturday, October 23, at Hawrelak Park. This annual event always seems to bring out some surprises with members whom we haven’t seen in some time coming out…so we’ll see if this holds true again this year. So, c’mon out!

A rather relaxed affair, it’s meant simply as a way to unwind after a summer full of activities and as a last chance for many to bring their Miatas out to a club event until April. Enjoy a nice fall day, discuss events you’ve missed or your winter plans, and cook some food over an open fire.

Further details will be mailed out by Martin nearing the event.

The fire starts at 2pm.

Meeting Reminder -- October 21

The next club meeting is Thursday, October 21, at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom of Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

The November issue of the Miata Musings will be available for pickup by those members in attendance. (Mailed thereafter to those not in attendance at the Fall "Burn Some Wood" Cookout two days later...see the post above.)

Event Reminder - Fall Colours Run - October 2

The Fall Colours Run is Saturday, October 2.

We meet at Gateway Park (the oil derrick on the QE II Highway at the city's southern limits) for 10:30am with a departure for 11am. (Waiver must be signed...so don't show up at 11 expecting to leave right away...please come on time.)

The drive will be two legs of approximately 90min with a 30min stretch (bathroom) break at Seba Beach in the middle. We'll end on the outskirts of St. Albert and have no defined end point unless people desire an ice cream or something.

Please have a full tank of gas. You won't need it all, but there is no opportunity for gas on the route, so being low may cause you to have to leave to find it.

Bring your cameras & hats (wear sunscreen per the weather forecast) and come prepared for a fun drive on all the twisty and/or hilly roads surrounding Edmonton.

Autoslaloms -- September 25 & October 3

The Edmonton Z-Car Club has a date of Saturday, September 25 for the fourth event of the year, and Sunday, October 3 for the fifth event of the year.

Information can be found by clicking on the title text of this message.

Registration is through Andrew S. (link on that website), and is only required if you have not previously registered as a competitor at either of the three previous events. Reminder that all people in your party, if you're bringing spectators, must be registered with Andrew, due to the security requirements at C.F.B. Edmonton.

Deadline for registration is Friday, September 17 by noon for the fourth event, and Friday, September 24 for the fifth event (this is only required if you haven't previously registered for base access purposes).

Meeting Reminder -- September 16

The September club meeting is Thursday, September 16 at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom of Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

Martin S. will be chairing the meeting, and you will all have received your October issue of the Miata Musings in the mail prior to the meeting...but come out anyway.

Event Notification -- David Thompson Highway Cruise -- DATE MAY CHANGE!!!

After working out event details with Martin S. -- our Events Director, and leader of this drive -- last week, and publishing said details in the early distribution October issue of the Miata Musings (hitting the mail tomorrow for hopefull delivery on Wednesday for Edmonton members) there may be a date change.

Listed for Saturday, September 18, the new date may be one week earlier, ie: this coming Saturday, September 11.

Stay tuned to your e-mail for an announcement by Martin and a call for confirmation of attendence (lest the event not proceed).

Despite being an all-day, 1,000km drive, the David Thompson Highway Cruise to Jasper 'n Back is well worth partaking in.

New Club Member Business Opening -- September 10/11

Fellow Club Member, Ian Searle, is having the Grand Opening of his new store in Sherwood Park on September 10th and 11th from 11AM to 8PM.

Sublime Wines, located at #104, 160 Broadway Blvd (look for Fulton Market Burgers and it's in the same building, just to the east) in Sherwood Park is a boutique wine store that will present new and different wines, spirits and beers as well as offering a unique wine tasting room with a lounge and fireplace.

Ian would like to invite everyone to the store during those days for samples, opening specials and door prizes.

For more information, call 780-467-WINE (9463)

Welcome to new members:

Maggie J. of Edmonton -- 1996 Brilliant Black
Alin & Maria M. of Edmonton -- 1995 British Racing Green
Jack & Meryl N. of Ft. Saskatchewan -- 1991 Mariner Blue
Glenn & Doris P. of Edmonton -- 2003 Pure White
and
Don S. & Sandy P. of Edmonton -- 2004 Velocity Red Mica Mazdaspeed

Meeting Reminder - August 19

Yes, it's that time again...Thursday, August 19 at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom at Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

See you there/then.

The September issue of the Miata Musings newsletter will be available for pickup by those members in attendance (get it first!)...thereafter in the mail to the rest of the club.

Meeting Reminder - July 15

The club's July meeting is this coming Thursday at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom of Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

The August issue of the Miata Musings newsletter will be available for pickup at the meeting (everybody else will get it in the mail by the following week).

Event Reminder - Show 'n Shine - July 11

The club's 2nd annual Show 'n Shine is Sunday, July 11 at the Edmonton Aviation Museum (located on Kingsway Avenue). Start time, to get the cars all lined up, is around 8:30am...expect to be there until mid-afternoon.

This event is part of the larger Japanese Sports Car show, which is part of the Race Week Edmonton events as a run-up to the Edmonton Indy race.

If you have any questions, contact Bob Donald directly (his number's on the back of the newsletter).

In Memoriam

Mark's obituary is posted in today's Edmonton Journal (click on this topic's title for redirection via the inbedded link).

A remembrance service will be held on Sunday, June 27 at noon at the Pleasantview Community League hall.

We mourn the loss of a club member

Mark Smith sadly passed away on Saturday, June 19, of complications of pneumonia after a week in the hospital.

Having joined the club in June 2002, his enthusiasm will be missed by many.

More details will follow with respect to the funeral.

We wish Rae and their daughter Jacq all the strength possible in their time of loss.

Welcome new member:

Leo G. of Spruce Grove -- 1999 Sapphire Blue Mica "10th Anniversary" Limited Edition

Meeting Reminder -- June 17

The June club meeting is Thursday, June 17 at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom of Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

The July issue of the Miata Musings will be available for pickup for those in attendance...or they'll be in the mail over the weekend.

Welcome new members:

Nigel B. & Ellyse B. of Edmonton -- 2004 Black Cherry Mica (US car), and;
Geremy Brodeur of Edmonton -- 1993 Custom BRG (turbo'd).

Miata Musings member-supplied content

Please note my blurb in the latest newsletter re: a call for member-written / supplied content.

June issue of Miata Musings in the mail

Sorry for the week-plus delay in mailing the newsletter after the May meeting...but they're all in the mail as of this morning's 10am pickup, so Edmonton and area should have them tomorrow, out of towners hopefully by the end of the week.

Welcome new members:

Harry & Shirley G of St. Albert - 1990 Classic Red

Welcome new members:

Phil de M & Audrey R of Edmonton - 2000 Highlight Silver Metallic;
Duncan W & Jacquelyne G of St. Albert - 2008 Copper Red Mica PRHT, and;
Wilf & Rosanne G of Spruce Grove - 1999 Sapphire Blue Mica "10th Anniversary" Limited Edition.

Additionally, welcome back to:

Pam B;
Tan P & Bori P;
Jim & Christine W, and;
Beate & Peter S.

Congratulations...

...to Cam A. & Julie N., who finally got engaged this past weekend.

This wasn't in Cam's latest "Letters from Victoria" installment, which you will be able to read in the latest Miata Musings newsletter, but there's a thread on the forum (click on this entry's title for redirection) complete with a picture of the happy moment.

Event Reminder - Spring Drive - May 22

Saturday, May 22 is the Spring Drive. As with last year’s Fall Colours Run, we’ll be running in the traditional (clockwise) direction, which is to say Gate-way Park to St. Albert, with a mid-point stop at Seba Beach for a restroom break and a stretch.

Meeting time is for 12:00pm at Gateway Park. We may do an impromptu group photo if people wish (ie: if the grass is green), otherwise, it’s likely that we’ll put out around 12:30pm, to stop about 90min later at Seba Beach; getting going no more than 30min later for the remaining 90min to St. Albert. The Dairy Queen on St. Albert Trail is always so busy, so if anybody can suggest a better place to end the drive, speak up now!

Meeting Reminder - May 20

The club's May meeting is this coming Thursday at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom of Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

The next issue of the Miata Musings will be available for pickup for those in attendance.

Meeting Reminder - April 15

Tomorrow night is the club's monthly meeting -- Park Mazda at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom.

Hopefully Alvin, Mark, and Richard will all be in attendance to recount their 10-day trip to Laguna Seca and back...they may even talk about what it's like to drive a Miata on the track! ;-)

WRMC's 15th Anniversary -- Sunday Brunch, April 25

On Sunday, April 25 we'll finally be celebrating the Wild Rose Miata Club's 15th Anniversary. Originally hoped for October (when it actually occurs), and then hoped for our usual timeframe of January, both dates fell through. Now's the time!

We'll be partaking in the Sunday brunch at the Lily Lake Resort (formerly the Red Barn), which is about a 30min drive from St. Albert. We'll meet at 10:00am at St. Albert Centre (aka: the Mall) in the NW corner of the parking lot (at the base of the pedestrian overpass...where we have meet a few times for the Spring Drive and/or Fall Colours Run when going from N to S). From there, we'll drive the half hour or so to LLR. If you're unable to make the rendezvous but still want to go, you can meet us there around about 11:00am.

At present, it's anticipated that it will be the small buffet (no sea food), so cost is $15 per person. If we do manage to pull in a lot of people, they may offer us the large buffet (full compliment of food items...both breakfast and lunch) for $30 per person...but I won't know that until I have full attendance numbers and talk with the manager of LLR.

Come out and share in the celebratory experience of our club's 15th Anniversary (six months late).

Hopefully you all have your Miatas out by then...but if you're bringing more family members, the OTM (Miata-parlance for the "Other Than Miata" vehicle) is welcome just as well.

RSVPs are required to wild_rose_miata_club@hotmail.com and must be in by Friday, April 16. Please let me know the number of people in your party.

Tech Events -- two coming up mid-April

Saturday, April 17

Come help Steven S. out with a clutch change (warranty issue) and suspension replacement (AFCO re-installation, also a warranty issue) at Doug McD.'s garage (complete with hoist).

Sunday, April 18

Come help Bob D. out with a complete shifter maintenance (replacement of both rubber isolator boots, turret oil change, etc), which is something that EVERY Miata owner in the club should know how to do (check bi-annually).

Both Tech Events have threads on the club's forum so you can contact the organizers and find out times, places, etc...

Miata or two desired for March 31

Bob D. -- our main Show 'n Shine coordinator -- is looking for a Miata or two to be in attendance from 9am - 2pm at the Edmonton Aviation Museum in support of the big press conference for the weeklong Edmonton Indy lead-up events (one of which will be our club's Show 'n Shine).

Contact him via his telephone number listed on the back of your newsletter, or via the thread on the club's forum, which is linked via the TEXT HEADER of this post.

Google Groups Still Pending Approval...

Sorry Folks, this Google Group setup is still on hold waiting for Google to review the application. I promise that as soon as I find out it is done I will send out an email.

This is becoming a tad frustrating, and I apologise for the delays, so until then we will have to reply on the "old fashioned" emails and forum posts.

Martin - Events Director

Welcome to new members:

Bruno & Eva G. of Edmonton - 1993 Brilliant Black Special Edition (US-market car)
Jim L. of Edmonton - 1991 British Racing Green Limited Edition

Meeting Reminder - March 18

Once again, it's meeting time!

Thursday, March 18 at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom of Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

The much-anticipated April Fools issue of the newsletter will be available for pick up by those present (all else will receive it in the mail thereafter).

Bring your Miata!

Google Group Taking Longer Than Planned

I have created the group list for the WRMC Group, but due to Google's anti-spam policies they have to review the membership request that I submitted to make sure that it is not a spam or malicious account. I will send out an email to everyone once it has been reviewed and approved.

Hang in there everyone!

Martin

GoogleGroup testing in progress

We're in the process of getting our GoogleGroup up and running. You can expect a few odd e-mails over the course of the next day or so as we (Martin and Richard) test a few things.

There will be two addresses, one for inter-member chatter and one purely for event annoucements.

If your e-mail system is filtering these out (into your SPAM box), please unblock the addresses, such that you receive these e-mails.

Hopefully this will allow a few more people to interact as compared to the sparse member usage on the Miata Club Canada forum.

3rd Annual "Car Movie Marathon" -- March 6

Saturday, March 6th is our 3rd annual Car Movie Marathon event...to beat away the winter blahs / cabin fever and get us all ready for spring.

It's a BYOB (bring your own bottle(s) & mix / BYOSTS (bring your own snacks to share) / BYOMFP (bring your own money for pizza) affair, which will be held at Steven & Patty S's house in south Edmonton (same site for the previous two events).

Arrival for a good seat in the theatre room, per norm, is 9:30am, with drinks in-hand at 10am (that's noon EST, so it's okay). Arrive / leave when you like if you can't do all-day, but this is planeed for Season 14 of Top Gear (7 episodes), Truth in 24 (Audi movie about LeMans), and some other stuff...so it'll be all-day with stretch- and lunch-break.

March issue of Miata Musings

For those that didn't pick up their newsletters at last night's club meeting (and for those that I knew wouldn't be there and out-of-town members, whose newsletters were dropped in the mail this past Tuesday), your newsletters will be posted this weekend.

Look for them no later than mid-week next week.

There are a number of Calendar of Event tweaks since the February issue sent out last month, all of which are high-lighted on page 2.

More on the Show 'n Shine(s) will be forthcoming soon, as things develop with the entre week of festivities leading up to the Edmonton Indy race in late July. Bob, Randy, and Will are working hard (Will's now on the organizing committee for the festival as well, so we have an in).

Targa Newfoundland - Keith & Janel Tanner's Miata Adventure

Want a taste of what it's like to run the Targa Newfoundland?

Forever MX-5 magazine has just published an 8-page article written by Flyin' Miata's Keith Tanner about the experience at the 2008 event.

Click the title text to link to the .PDF file.

Meeting Reminder - February 18

The club's February meeting is Thursday, February 18, at 7pm in the 2nd floor boardroom at Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

Hope to see you there.

The March issue of the Miata Musings newsletter will be available for pickup at the meeting (I just printed it)...so get it first!

Further Update on Landmark Mazda

I dropped in today and spoke with Paul Pandur (longtime manager at Jarman Mazda). Jim Berg's gone. Landmark Mazda is not offering (at this time) discounts to WRMC members for parts or labour.

Welcome to new members:

Darren & Melissa P. of Edmonton - 2001 Sunlight Silver Metallic, and
Yvonne A. of Edmonton - 2007 Sunlight Silver Metallic

Congrats to Brandi & Martin...

on the birth of their daughter Grace Sylvia on January 18.

Our Events Director Martin will now have more to do than usual...so event updates and such may be a little sporadic for the next month or two.

Meeting Reminder - January 21

The first club meeting for 2010 is Thursday, January 21 at 7pm in the second floor boardroom at Park Mazda in Sherwood Park.

The February issue of the Miata Musings newsletter and your 2010 membership cards will be available for pickup (mailed thereafter if you're not in attendance).

Membership renewals for those of you who have yet to do so can be done in person.

Jarman Mazda no more...now Landmark Mazda

From the Hicks on Six column in the January 20 Edmonton Sun.

VROOM, VROOM

Heading into the annual Edmonton Motor Show next week, Edmonton auto dealers have emerged from their 2009 industry turmoil remarkably unscathed. Sales overall in the Edmonton area were flat last year. But these days, "flat" is excellent. The General Motors re-structuring meant some 240 dealerships across Canada were closed, but we lost just five in this area -- Stedelbauer Chev-Olds, Saturn West, Grove Pontiac in Spruce Grove, and Murray Chevrolet in Leduc.

Stedelbauer principal Ron Gibson bought and moved Jarman Mazda into the Stedelbauer building on 97 Street, re-naming it Landmark Mazda. Grove Pontiac is now Grove Motor Products. Welcome Ford in Fort Saskatchewan just declared bankruptcy, but not because of the economy. Otherwise, the local auto biz has been all about consolidation and improved presentation.

The Ericksen Auto Group (Ericksen Nissan, Ericksen Infiniti, and recent acquisitions Weber Motors Mazda and Weber Motors Mercedes-Benz / Smart) was itself fully acquired by Mike Priestner's Go Auto group. Crosstown Motors, the flagship of brother Pat Priestner's AutoCanada group, left the downtown to be the Crosstown Auto Centre at the Yellowhead and 156 Street.

AutoCanada's Capital Chrysler Jeep Dodge moved to the Gateway Auto Mall on Ellerslie Road, just off Calgary Trail. It's now the Capital Auto Centre. Yellowhead Honda moved and reopened as Pointe West Honda, selling other Honda products as well as cars. Once its new premises is ready in Sherwood Park, Healy Ford will move out of the downtown. So things weren't that bad. It'll be upbeat at The Motor Show. It always is.

Hopefully the staff at Jarman / Landmark are still there...as most at Weber Motors have changed over the past year. More details in the March issue of the Miata Musings once I know.

Membership Renewals

A reminder that it's now 2010, and all club members who received a membership renewal notice with your Volume 16, Issue 1 newsletters back in November, your memberships have now expired.

There are still about 50 some-odd members who have not sent in their renewals (an e-mail will go out this week).

Don't let the benefits of being a WRMC member pass you by.

Happy New Year!

It's 2010...seems like only yesterday that it was clicking over to 2000...yet here we are, in the last year of the decade (it's amazing how much the media has this wrong).

The Miata's turned 21....and it's -21C outside, with a bitter wind, yet I hope to see a lot of you at today's Polar Bear Run at 2pm.

Cheers!